fhall come speedily upon them. And this is in a proper Senfe to vifit the Iniquity of the Fathers upon the Children; for though they are punished only for their own Sins, yet the Ini-. quities of their Fathers are the Reason why God makes them the publick Examples of his Juftice; that the Remarkableness and Severity of the Punishment may be a Warning to others. And therefore,

Secondly, I obferve the Severity of these Punishments. For the Punishments of this Life are more properly Acts of Difcipline than of Judgment. And therefore are many times not fo much proportioned to the Nature of the Crime, as to the Circumftances and Condition of the Perfon, and to the wife Ends of Government; God thereby at once vindicating his own Providence, and leaving the moft fignal Remembrance of his Juftice amongst Men. To understand this, we muft obferve, that the Scripture takes notice of a certain Measure of Iniquity, which is filling up from one Generation to another; till at laft, it makes a Nation, or a Family ripe for Destru ction and the Juftice of God. And though thofe Perfons, on whom the Weight of this final Vengeance falls, fuffer no more than their own perfonal Sins deferved; yet the Sins of former Generations, joined with their own concurrent Guilts, make it time for God to pour upon them the Severity of his Wrath. This Account our Saviour gives of the Destruction of

Mat. 23. Ferufalem. Wo unto you Scribes and Phari29. 30.&c. fees, Hypocrites; because ye build the Tombs

of the Prophets, and garnish the Sepulchers of the Righteous, and fay, If we had been in the Days of our Fathers, we would not have been Partakers with them in the Blood of the Prophets. Wherefore ye be Witneffes unto your felves, that ye are the Children of them which killed the Prophets: fill ye up then the Meafure of your Father's Sins. And again, I fend unto you Prophets, and wife Men, and Scribes and fome of them ye shall kill and crucify. That upon you may come all the Righteous Blood fhed upon the Earth, from the Blood of Abel, to the Blood of Zacharias, Son of Baraebias, whom ye flew between the Temple and the Altar. Thus, though God may wait with Patience upon a wicked Nation, or a wicked Family; yet when they Sin on, from one Generation to another; this at laft awakens the Divine Juftice; and then the Sins of former Generations are thrown in to aggravate the Account; and (when God fees it time to punish) makes the Punishment very fevere, and dreadful, and final.

And as the Pofterity of the Wicked are thus punished by God, fo that of the Righteous is rewarded by him for their Father's Sake; efpecially if they tread in their Steps, and imitate the Example of their Piety. For tho I doubt not, but God may fhew Favour, and fend Bleffings unto an Evil Son for the Sake of a good Father, yet the Promife is chiefly

made

made to the Righteous Seed of Righteous Men. So the Pfalmift, Bleed is the Man PL. 112.3. that feareth the Lord; bis Seed fhall be mighty upon the Earth the Generation of the Upright shall be bleffed. Wealth and

"

Riches fhall be in his Houfe; and his Righteousness endureth for ever. All good Men are not profperous in this World; nor has God any where promised that they fhall be fo, no more than all Wicked Men are punifhed here. But as God vifits the Iniquities of the Fathers upon the Children, fo he theweth Mercy unto the Pofterity of them that fear him: And the more uninterrupted Succeffions there are of fuch Righteous Parents, and Righteous Children; the more do they fpread and propagate; they are like a Tree planted by the Waters, which bring-PC. 1. 3. 4. eth forth bis Fruit in due Seafon: His Leaf alfo fhall not wither; and look, what foever he doth, it fall profper. What hath been difcourfed upon this Head, I fhall now endeavour to bring Home by a more particular and practicable Application,

1. To Parents.

2. To Children.

1. As to Parents. And what an Obligation is this upon them to ftrict Justice and Honefty in their Profeffions; and to leave to

their Children an Estate well. got; otherwife, inftead of a Bleffing, they entail a Curfe upon them. Moft of that Labour and Toil which Men undergo in this World, is for the Sake of their Children; to provide for them while they live; to leave them in eafy and happy Circumftances when they die: To raife and perpetuate a Family; to fecure them as far as is poffible from Contempt and Poverty. And though poffibly, wicked Men may arrive at this, and the Glory of their House be increased; though they may be fuccefsful in railing a plentiful Estate : Yet all this while they do but build upon the Sand. The Foundation is rotten, and they leave a very perifhing Inheritance for their Children; efpecially if it be raised by Injustice and Oppreffion; by Sacrilege or Extortion; by defrauding God or the Poor. Ah! in these Cafes Vix gaudet tertius Hares; it feldom goes lower than the next Heir; a fecret Moth Hab.2.6.7.or a fpeedy Vengeance confumes it: Woe unto him that increafeth that which is not bis; and to bim that ladeth himself with thick Clay. Shall they not rife up fuddenly that fhall bite thee, and awake that fall vex thee; and thou shalt be for Booties unto them? However, though God may defer for a while; yet one time or other he will reckon with wicked Families, as well as vicked Men And that will be a terrible Account, when the Wickedness of his Father shall be bad in Remembrance,

and

and when the Sin of his Mother fhall not be done away.

On the other Hand, what an Encourage ment is this to good Men; that though by the Wife and Unfearchable Providence of God they are unfortunate in the World, yet by the Difpofition of the fame wife Providence, their Pofterity fhall reap the Rewards of their Integrity and Virtue, That the little which the Righteous Man hath Righteously got, fhall prove a better, a more lafting and increafing Inheritance, than the great Riches of the Ungodly: That a liberal Charity, when Occafion offers (which fome think is to defraud their Children; and that what is given to the Poor is quite loft fhall prove like Seed fown in the Earth, which repays all with a plentiful Harveft 3 that having caft their Bread upon the Waters, they fhall find it again after many Days.

Was this Doctrine firmly believed and wellconfidered, it would lay the greateft Obligation both upon bad and good Men, to take Care of the Virtuous and Religious Educa tion of their Children. Upon bad Men, be caufe the only Way they have to cut off the Entail of Mifery from the Families, and to fecure their Children from that very Gurfe which their own Sins have deferved, is to train them in the Ways of Virtue, and Piety.

Upon